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new Linux distros can't find HD

I have spent 2 solid days trying to install any recent release of Linux. I wanted to upgrade from Ubuntu (v 7, I think) to v 10, but the online attempt to go to v 8 failed. When I tried to install v 10 from the live CD, it failed because the HD could not be found. I then tried and failed to install recent versions of Mepis, PCLinux, Mint, OpenSUSE, Debian, Sabayon. The live disks run fine, but not one of them could find my HD. But... when I tried an old version of Mepis, it installed and ran. An old version of Kubuntu also installed and is running now.

The HD is a WD1200JD (SATA). It obviously works. I also did a wipe and reset the boot sector using the Western Digital tools. Can anyone tell me how to figure out what is going wrong? Would a new HD work, or is the Asus mobo just too old? Is there any test that will tell me? The old versions of Linux are not attractive, but the new ones look quite nice. What to do???

What brand/model controller is your HDD plugged in to? That'd be a more likely culprit than the HDD model. If it's plugged in to your motherboard and you're not sure, perhaps give us the model of Asus motherboard you have.

What brand/model controller is your HDD plugged in to? That'd be a more likely culprit than the HDD model. If it's plugged in to your motherboard and you're not sure, perhaps give us the model of Asus motherboard you have.

The HDD was plugged into the Asus mobo. After a lot of time spent, I remembered that I had an old SATA controller on a PCI card. I found it and tried it. It worked immediately. I have since installed Ubuntu 10.04 in both 64 and 32 bit versions. Neither had sound. Then I tried Mint. Same. Then I tried OpenSUSE. I am now installing Debian. If that fails, I will look for the old sound card that I have not used in years and try it.